English Satire and Satirists |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 64
Page 8
... probably does the fable of the lion and the ass . So too does the long Poem on the Times of Edward II . , which sweeps the whole gamut of abuses , condemning not only the Church , but each section of the upper and middle classes in turn ...
... probably does the fable of the lion and the ass . So too does the long Poem on the Times of Edward II . , which sweeps the whole gamut of abuses , condemning not only the Church , but each section of the upper and middle classes in turn ...
Page 10
... probably in 1362 , soon after the Treaty of Bretigny , which nominally ended the war with France ; the second in 1376 , the year before the death of Edward III .; and the third in 1398 , the year before the tragic close of the reign of ...
... probably in 1362 , soon after the Treaty of Bretigny , which nominally ended the war with France ; the second in 1376 , the year before the death of Edward III .; and the third in 1398 , the year before the tragic close of the reign of ...
Page 19
... Probably Chaucer meant before he began it to break it off , as he does ; he must have known that whatever amusement a satire of that sort could give would be soon exhausted . The Summoner's Tale , however , and the prologue and epilogue ...
... Probably Chaucer meant before he began it to break it off , as he does ; he must have known that whatever amusement a satire of that sort could give would be soon exhausted . The Summoner's Tale , however , and the prologue and epilogue ...
Page 28
... probably written a large portion of his verse . With the exception of Chaucer no literary artist equal to Dunbar had hitherto written English , either in its northern or in its southern form . His satire has all that could be imparted ...
... probably written a large portion of his verse . With the exception of Chaucer no literary artist equal to Dunbar had hitherto written English , either in its northern or in its southern form . His satire has all that could be imparted ...
Page 31
... probably a countryman of Dunbar's ; certainly , like him , a churchman ; and , it would seem , as much his superior in purity of life as he was his inferior in genius . Of genius , indeed , Barclay shows not a spark . His ponderous work ...
... probably a countryman of Dunbar's ; certainly , like him , a churchman ; and , it would seem , as much his superior in purity of life as he was his inferior in genius . Of genius , indeed , Barclay shows not a spark . His ponderous work ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Absalom and Achitophel abuse Achitophel Addison admirable Barry Lyndon beauty better Bishop Burns Butler Byron century character Chaucer Church classical condemnation Court criticism Dekker devil Don Juan doubt Dryden Dunciad ecclesiastical effective England English epistle Erewhon essay evil folly fool Frere friars Goliardic Goliardic verse Gulliver's Travels Hall Headlong Hall hell heroic couplet Holy honour Hudibras human humour imitations John Jonathan Wild Jonson Junius king Lady Langland less lines literary literature live Lollards London Lyndsay Marston Martin means merit mind moral nature never Pardoner passage Peacock perhaps piece Piers Plowman poem poet poetry political poor Pope Pope's priest probably prose Puritan Pygmalion reform reign religion ridicule Samuel Butler satire satirist says sense shows sort soul spirit stanzas style Swift Tale Tatler tells Thackeray theme things thought true truth vices whole women writers written wrote Wyatt
Popular passages
Page 270 - Man's love is of man's life a thing apart, "Tis woman's whole existence; man may range The court, camp, church, the vessel, and the mart; Sword, gown, gain, glory, offer in exchange Pride, fame, ambition, to fill up his heart, And few there are whom these cannot estrange; Men have all these resources, we but one, To love again, and be again undone.
Page 169 - Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law, Or some frail China jar receive a flaw ; Or stain her honour, or her new brocade; Forget her prayers, or miss a masquerade ; Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball; Or whether Heaven has doom'd that Shock must fall.
Page 65 - Full little knowest thou, that hast not tried, What hell it is in suing long to bide: To lose good days, that might be better spent; To waste long nights in pensive discontent; To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow; To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow; To have thy prince's grace, yet want her peers...
Page 269 - And if I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep...
Page 65 - To lose good days, that might be better spent; To waste long nights in pensive discontent; To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow; To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow; To have thy prince's grace, yet want her peers' ; To have thy asking, yet wait many years; To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares; To eat thy heart through comfortless despairs; To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride, to run, To spend, to give, to want, to be undone.
Page 220 - Nothing can be conceived more hard than the heart of a thoroughbred metaphysician. It comes nearer to the cold malignity of a wicked spirit than to the frailty and passion of a man. It is like that of the principle of evil himself, incorporeal, pure, unmixed, dephlegmated, defecated evil.
Page 219 - ... other hands* Your friends have a privilege to play upon the easiness of your temper, or possibly they are better acquainted with your good qualities than I am. You have done good by stealth. The rest is upon record. You have still left ample room for speculation, when panegyric is exhausted. You are, indeed, a very considerable man. The highest rank ; a splendid fortune ; and a name, glorious till it was yours, were sufficient to have supported you with meaner abilities than I think you possess.
Page 162 - Even I, a dunce of more renown than they, Was sent before but to prepare thy way; And coarsely clad in Norwich drugget came To teach the nations in thy greater name.
Page 22 - For if he yaf, he dorste make avaunt, He wiste that a man was repentaunt. For many a man so hard is of his herte, He may nat wepe al-thogh him sore smerte. 230 Therfore, in stede of weping and preyeres, Men moot yeve silver to the povre freres.
Page 194 - My little friend Grildrig, you have made a most admirable panegyric upon your country ; you have clearly proved that ignorance, idleness, and vice are the proper ingredients for qualifying a legislator; that laws are best explained, interpreted, and applied by those whose interest and abilities lie in perverting, confounding, and eluding them.